2018 Nebelhorn Trophy Ladies Free Skate

[draqq]

Leona Hendrickx

Sticking with last year's program, I see. Great 3Lz+3T to start, a little stiff on the 3T. Bent arm over the head on the 3F. Clean 2A. Wonderful 3Lz with 2 arms aloft. Nice combo spin, always like her A-frame spin into a broken sit spin. She aggressively grabs edges in the footwork sequence. 3F+2T+1Lo. Very slow into the 2A, so an unfortunate fall. Better 3S+2T. Wonderful layover donut position in last spin.

I definitely saw how comfortable she is now with this program, now that she's doing it for a second year. A bit slow after the 3-jump combo in the second half and she was a bit slow on the 2A as well, which I think was a <. I like her dance ability through the choreography and she generally finishes her moves with a presented picture. I think they can work with her on getting more speed before the jumps because she's capable of getting those +2s and +3s, as evident from the short program, on the jumps.

Score: 132.66

 

[Nimyue]

I honestly just don’t understand Alina scores

Other than 3Lz3L she is IMO nothing special.

Have you paid attention to her entries? She enters jumps after skating on one leg doing multiple turns. Her entries are super impressive.

 

[frida80]

Good competition. Now time for lunch.

 

[moriel]

I'm sure if Evgenia was skating to Carmen and Alina to tango you would say the exact opposite...

Nah, rythm dance this season is tango, and not carmen.

 

[demarinis5]

It seems the judges are not as tired of the warhorses as us fans are. I admit I was disappointed when I heard of Alina’s music choices for this season, well after seeing her perform both programs I am not disappointed any more.

 

[ancientpeas]

I think its fine, actually.
It could be worse, it could be a tango.

I agree. Too many tangos. I was just sort of hoping they'd give her something different and out of the box seeing as how she is Olympic Champion. To me these are such safe choices. I'm sure she will do a good job with it and no one can doubt her commitment, effort and skill but to me it is just a disappointing choice.

And yes.. I really, really dislike POTO so I'll probably end up liking the Carmen more.

 

[Nimyue]

Good competition. Now time for lunch.

haha same for me!

 

[leoleo]

Good competition! good job everybody but honestly the pcs scoring this season is even worse than last season! i'm not ready for the mess this season is gonna be

 

[MaiKatze]

I love how her happy off ice persona is so different from her fierce lady persona on ice - Loena is so cute!

 

[TheBallerina]

Spirals you were right with your predictions! :clapper: I am very happy to see Loena on the podium :luv17:

 

[Fruitpie]

Alina was excellent today! What a competitor! I still like DQ more, but DQ was a masterpiece and it's just beggining of the year. Also great dress. Remind me of the ballet I saw once.

 

[Azikin]

Remember how Alina's program looked at test skates, and look at it now. She improved so much in such a short time. Her performance will just get better and better over the season, don't worry. And you can tell she was the one who wanted to skate on Carmen, she really enjoys it, and that's what makes her performance even more captivating for me. :luv17:

It's totally captivating, even as it is now.. And I'm no big Alina fan, until this season I've been much bigger Evgenia fan but now the situation totally turned for me... I loved both programs, which I unfortunately cannot say about Evgenia, quite the opposite...

 

[Interspectator]

Well skated Ladies event. It's super late over here... But I'm glad I was able to catch Alina, Mai and Loena. Amazing performances.

I will wait till next year to be a fan of Alina. --I know it will happen eventually.

Loena and Mai have already got me hooked.

 

[leoleo]

It seems the judges are not as tired of the warhorses as us fans are. I admit I was disappointed when I heard of Alina’s music choices for this season, well after seeing her perform both programs I am not disappointed any more.

judges don't score music choices! they score the performance you put on the ice. They don't care if it's a warhorse or not (and they shouldn't). Eteri knows how to build a program that is going to rack up the most points possible!

 

[TechPanel]

Don Quixote was great both years—it was a good program that suited her. I will still watch her skate this year—I watch a lot of programs I don’t like. But this will definitely not go down in the Carmen Hall of Fame.

 

[demarinis5]

Congrats to the Podium finishers! Great skating from the top ladies!

 

[moriel]

I agree. Too many tangos. I was just sort of hoping they'd give her something different and out of the box seeing as how she is Olympic Champion. To me these are such safe choices. I'm sure she will do a good job with it and no one can doubt her commitment, effort and skill but to me it is just a disappointing choice.

And yes.. I really, really dislike POTO so I'll probably end up liking the Carmen more.

The main goal for her this season is to prove she is not yet another 1 year wonder, so actually a not out of the box program makes sense.
Also, I love poto =)

 

[ancientpeas]

The main goal for her this season is to prove she is not yet another 1 year wonder, so actually a not out of the box program makes sense.
Also, I love poto =)

Yes.. I see that as a viable strategy and I'm sure Eteri knows way better than I do what will work for the Judges and Alina. As I said I just wish it was more special and different.

We will have to agree to disagree about POTO though.

 

[Fruitpie]

What a great podium! I'm super happy for Alina and Loena!

 

[Fluture]

I quite like Alina's Carmen. It's a journey for her, she won't be perfect at interpreting this character right from the get-go. Comparing this skate to test skates, it was miles better. She looked confident and fierce and it's quite obvious that she truly enjoys skating to this program. She still has work to do and some of her positions still look rushed and akward but it's only the beginning of the season. She has lots of time and for a first showing this was really good. Her score was a bit high and I think it really should have been a bit lower because that 3Lo after the 3Lz really looked underrotated to me. Also, her PCS seem to high now, in interpretation she should have been lower because she still has yet to grow into this program a bit more. She still should have won by a mile obviously. Overall, that was a solid first showing. Her dresses are both beautiful, her jumps still are all there, she was clean. A lot to give her credit for. I think these programs - Carmen and POTO - are a way for her to grow artistically. POTO is very lyrical, unlike the things she has done before so it's a challenge whereas Carmen is fierce and dramatic but in a different way than Black Swan. Just like Evgenia, these are new programs for her so she has to grow into them. I'd say some here are expecting a bit too much from these girls. Just because they're Russian doesn't mean they have to be perfect all the time or right at the beginning of the season. And Alina had a technically precise outing here. Yeah, her program's not perfected yet but... it's a challenger. The first competition of the season... I feel like a broken record saying this all the time but... Patience! Give her some time.